Pays to remember who you're talking to

[kirkp]

Have a canister filter I'm setting up and wanted to get some filter material for the first chamber. Went to a fabric store to get some polyester batting. The clerk asked me what I was going to use it for and when I told her she said that several people bought for the same purpose. I said that that made me feel better about using it and less concerned about having to test it. She asked if I had some test kits and I said no, I'd probably have to put a piece in some water and then put a test fish in it. From the look on her face you'd have thought I just pulled out a gun. I assured her that I was only joking.

Kirk

[krazykat]

Material that has been treated with a fire retardant could have an adverse effect on you discus. Make sure that the batting or whatever material you are getting has not been treated with these chemicals. I would just spend the extra dollar and get the material from a pet store to make sure that it is okay for the intended use. Just because several people are buying it for the same purpose does not mean that it is okay. It could be several people that will be having the same problems (and dead fish in their tanks) down the road. JMO.

[Roxanne]

..From the look on her face you'd have thought I just pulled out a gun. I assured her that I was only joking.

Kirk

:D...got the same look when I went looking for "pure" ammonia:D

Please don't risk it for a few bucks....most fabric is treated with fire retardant and or formaldehyde from processing...;)...if I can find the thread where someone used furniture sponge and made their discus do the mexican hat dance and killed others I will post it here....I nearly did it too, thank Neptune I read his thread!

[Darrell Ward]

I've also read horror stories about people killing their fish using department store foam, and learning it contained a fire retardant chemical after the fact. It's not worth the risk IMO to try to save a few dollars only to poison or kill hundreds of dollars worth of discus. When I used foam, (I've since switched to micron rated bags for the wet-drys) I was always happy to pay a little more at a fish room supply house to get foam that I was sure was fish safe. Be very careful!

[Patr1ck]

Dont do it. I had a bad experience with this recently, heres the thread. I think this is what Roxanne is talking about also. http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=67777
I use this stuff instead. http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754135 Its really cheap too. If you still use the furniture stuff make sure it doesnt say anything about meeting flammability requirements. If it does it means that its treated with "Mexican hat dance" juice:p.

HTH,
P

[kirkp]

Hey everyone, thanks for the replies. Everyone makes good points. I'm going to be placing an order so I'll pick some up.

Kirk

[Roxanne]

.. I think this is what Roxanne is talking about .....its treated with "Mexican hat dance" juice:p.

P

;)

[Graham]

There is no problem using polyester stuffing...where do you think the pet manufacturer got it from,......... same polyester manufactuer... I've used it for years and in another thread around here Paul also mentions that he uses it.

Buying it from a pet store is almost up there with buying ''aquarium salt''.......


if the bag says it is fire retardant then needless to say don't use it

G

[kirkp]

I may run up there today to see what the packaging says. It's not the foam or the bulk polyester. It's a polyester matting that comes in big rolls 4' wide and 1/2" thick.

We'll see. Could always do what I inadvertently said to her.

Kirk

[pcsb23]

There is no problem using polyester stuffing...where do you think the pet manufacturer got it from,......... same polyester manufactuer... I've used it for years and in another thread around here Paul also mentions that he uses it.

Buying it from a pet store is almost up there with buying ''aquarium salt''.......


if the bag says it is fire retardant then needless to say don't use it

GIndeed I do :D I've since found a source in the UK that will cut the sheets to the size I want and cost mes me less too :D

Like Graham and others say though if it is treated leave it alone, untreated it is perfect though.

[Roxanne]

My fear is there isn't always that kind of labelling to say whether it is treated or not.....I wouldn't trust what a shop assistant tells me about anything, especially when it comes to my pets/thousands of dollars worth of fish...so if labelled correctly there's no problem otherwise I personally wouldn't risk it. Australia imports too much CRAP to be blase in my opinion.

[Patr1ck]

My fear is there isn't always that kind of labelling to say whether it is treated or not.....I wouldn't trust what a shop assistant tells me about anything, especially when it comes to my pets/thousands of dollars worth of fish...so if labelled correctly there's no problem otherwise I personally wouldn't risk it. Australia imports too much CRAP to be blase in my opinion.

I Agree.:)

P

[Patr1ck]

...Buying it from a pet store is almost up there with buying ''aquarium salt''.......
G

Hey Graham. Can you give me some more info on this salt topic? Im curious to know if I could use salt from the grocery store. pm me. Sorry kirkp for the hijack.
Thanks,
P

[Graham]

Rox I don't know about ''down under'' but ''up here'' if something has a chemical sprayed on it as in a fire retardant it has to be labeled as such. really cheap polyester doesn't have expensive chemicals sprayed on it.

Pat NaCl is NaCl....you can use salt from where ever you want to buy it, table salt included. The iodized thing is nothing more than a myth. Needless to say you want a box that's pure salt.

The cheapest source for salt is water conditioner salt about $10 for 50# at any hardware store. The only thing to watch for is the anti-caking agent YPS, Yellow Prussiate of Soda. This can break down an become toxic in sunlight.

G

[Patr1ck]

Rox I don't know about ''down under'' but ''up here'' if something has a chemical sprayed on it as in a fire retardant it has to be labeled as such. really cheap polyester doesn't have expensive chemicals sprayed on it.

Pat NaCl is NaCl....you can use salt from where ever you want to buy it, table salt included. The iodized thing is nothing more than a myth. Needless to say you want a box that's pure salt.

The cheapest source for salt is water conditioner salt about $10 for 50# at any hardware store. The only thing to watch for is the anti-caking agent YPS, Yellow Prussiate of Soda. This can break down an become toxic in sunlight.

G

Thanks Graham.:thumbsup:

P

[Elaine Bryant]

years ago I had goldfish in a bowl for my kids, when I would change the water I'd put them in a container with salt added til I got their bowl cleaned. Once I added iodine salt to their "soak" and when I put them in they went nuts trying to get out of that bowl. I always thought it was because of the iodine so never used salt with it added again and had no more problems. Why would iodine salt be a myth?:confused:

[Roxanne]

Rox I don't know about ''down under'' but ''up here'' if something has a chemical sprayed on it as in a fire retardant it has to be labeled as such. really cheap polyester doesn't have expensive chemicals sprayed on it.

..G

:D down under/up here..lol..Yes we have those strict guideline "thingys" on imports but it doesn't stop all the fake/crappy/dangerous/useless toys and stuff from being sold in Discount Shops and the like, how? I'm clueless as to how it gets past the so called Australian Standards but they do.....I put it to you this way, if I see a great wad of "sponge" in a dollar shop, in plastic but no label, and I say to the sales person, is this safe for fish aquariums and she glazes over and goes blank but says yeeeees or acts like I'm asking a trick question, will I risk it? Even if she didn't glaze over, I still wouldn't risk it. By contrast, we can get a metre or 2 square of the filter fibre from the LFS for $5 to $10.

[Graham]

Elaine it isn't iodine, it's iodide...two very different things; like chloride and chlorine...salt is sodium chloride. We use it all the time, but we try very hard to get rid of chlorine.

Your fish probably reacted to the salt they were in...why:confused::confused:

[Elaine Bryant]

I don't know, I always thought it was because I used iodized salt, they acted like they were being burned.

[Graham]

Hi How much salt were you adding? It would take a pile before it ever ''brunt'' a fish unless they were laying in it

[Elaine Bryant]

not very much, I'm almost tempted to do an experiment with my koi and see if iodized salt versis non iodized would bother them but their almost 2 feet long and I don't have a bowl big enough to put them in LOL:):):)